Devising law as per market's needs: PBIF chief proposes new taxation authority

Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) president Mian Zahid Hussain has proposed there should be a fresh taxation authority to devise laws in accordance with the market's requirement so that the revenue through taxes for the government could be raised by 100 percent.
Veteran business leader cited that the government had offered tax-amnesty schemes for ten times since 1958 that was the highest number of amnesties offered by any government in the world but such schemes in Pakistan had never yielded any fruitful results.
He recalled that in the past, incumbent ruling PTI had always antagonised such schemes but now when the national revenue collection is falling short by rupees 370 billion, the proposed tax amnesty scheme is quite welcome in order to increase formal economy of the country.
"There are clear possibilities of increasing tax net and white economy of the country by the PTI government's proclaimed tax-amnesty scheme," he said, adding that previous government collected Rs 121 billion for the treasury and added only about 80,000 people to the tax net as a result of tax amnesty scheme provided in April 2018. He said the amnesty scheme would contribute towards tax-to-GDP ratio of Pakistan which stood at only 11 percent right now, whereas China and India stood at 17pc and 20pc, respectively.
PBIF president said that indeed, it would be helpful to the people who wish to pay their taxes but too afraid to declare their assets until now. According to the Federal Board of revenue (FBR), this scheme would accumulate about Rs 300-400 billions; however, achieving this target would be hard, if not impossible when equated with past results of such amnesties. He said that now it's vital for all non-tax payers to benefit through this scheme and play their part in the economic development of Pakistan. He cited that people not declaring assets until July 2019 would be penalised to pay 300pc fine and could face imprisonment for up to 5 years. As per Income Tax laws, the government has planned a crackdown in July 2019 on the people who wouldn't declare their assets under this amnesty scheme. He said the scheme would be the last chance to legitimise their offshore and onshore assets in order to save their selves from imprisonment and heavy fine afterwards.
Mian Zahid said the government would share the scheme with IMF after cabinet approval under Presidential Ordinance because IMF could oppose the amnesty program like before. He said FATF clearance is also needed which is currently reviewing Pakistan's status over money-laundering and financing for terrorism. This move coincides with implementation of Benami Act in March 2019 in line with its efforts to document the economy. He noted that Finance Minister Asad Umar was very hopeful for success of amnesty scheme and perceived it as a big step towards the broadening of the tax net. He further said 1.8 million people had filed their tax returns until now whereas there was a target set for increasing tax net with 5 million taxpayers. He said that under the proposed scheme, the government would offer three slabs for declaring all kinds of assets, both offshore and onshore. The proposed slabs were 5pc, 7.5pc and 10pc for whitening of the assets, he said, adding that FBR laws don't accommodate small scale businesses due to which most of the small scale businessmen are hesitant to become part of the tax net.